ohmidog!

San Diego won’t be releasing the hounds — or recordings thereof — just yet.

 U.S. District Court Judge William Hayes this week reaffirmed his temporary restraining order preventing harassment or dispersal of the seal colony at Children’s Pool beach in La Jolla, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Under orders from another judge, in Superior Court, San Diego announced on May 22 a plant to use the amplified sounds of barking dogs to scare away the seals, and one council member has suggested using actual dogs.

The beach was designated in 1931 as a beach for human swimmers, but it’s now home to about 200 harbor seals, whose waste is causing health concerns.

City officials have said the barking strategy would cost at least $689,000 a year.

Last week, the Superior Court judge said he believed the federal restraining order had expired, so the city must move ahead with its plan. The federal judge gave no indication of when he might lift the restraining order, and is also scheduling another hearing.